Giuseppina's on 6th Ave in South Slope-the non review

Just want to report that my neigbors and I have been waiting with bated breath for this Lucali offshoot to open for well over a year. Finally it "technically" opened it's doors over a week ago, but the evenings I wanted to go, numerous problems arose with these guys... Excuses ranged from the oven being broken, to deciding not to be open on a Tuesday, to "we usually open at 5:30 but today we just don't have our act together so we can't open until 6pm." Has anyone actually eaten there? I would love to know. Someday (hopefully this weekend) I'd like to try a pie.

We ate there last night. Arrived early, around 6:30. The place was 3/4 full. There were lots of families with (entirely well-behaved) young children). Many may have been friends/relatives of the owners/staff. That said, there were no wait lines like Lucali's and the tables were much better spaced. The service was very helpful and friendly (there was not at all that "weird" vibe, one sometimes get from Lucali's servers). They serve wine and beer, although the beer selection was deplorable (Brooklyn Pennant Ale was the only thing barely drinkable); I did not study the wine list, but they seem to serve bottles only at excellent prices $20-24. They also seem to have gotten their act together on the schedule. Open at six, last seating at 10:30. Closed Tuesday they informed us.

Now the pizza: We were somewhat disappointed, the thin crust was not quite crisp enough (of course this was one pie, not necessarily a trend and we didn't specifically asked for well done). The cheeses in the topping were very good , but the sauce was a little too bland. It also wasn't quite "greasy" enough for our taste. We missed the olive oil drizzle.

All in all, I would recommend it as long as there is no (or minimal) wait times. It certainly is a lit more comfortable version of Lucali's. And the parking is a lot easier in the South Slope that Carroll Gardens. On the other hand, if we had to put effort into getting our pizza, I would much, much rather endure DiFara's. Now there is a great pie.

Has anyone noticed that Lucali's quality has gone downhill a bit? I had a pie there about 3 weeks ago and it was nothing like the pies of yore... and it wasn't made by Mark, the (quite handsome) pizzaiolo there.... for lack of crowd and amazing authentic neopolitan pies, I usually go to Luna Rossa now. It lacks a bit of the cool "vibe' but the pizzas are fantastic.

Thanks for the review. Do they serve only pizza and calzone like Lucali's? Sometimes I just want a salad or antipasti before my pizza! If not, may as well go to Lucali's where I can BYOB. I've never found the service there anything less than friendly and helpful, and of course you can't beat the pizza.

okay thanks, then I see no advantage over Lucali's, except its a bit closer to me. I guess one advantage might be if we wanted to go later than 6 o'clock, LOL. We pretty much always get to Lucali's by six in order to get a table right away.

Take it from an old restaurant worker (and I mean old). New restaurants are usually not safe to try unless they've been open at least a month. Even though this offshoot has a pedigree, there will always be unforseen problems at the start. This is why many restaurants have "soft" openings.

Went at 8:30 Saturday night. We were told the wait would be a half hour, but really ended up being only 15 minutes or so. The service was great. The menu is very simple... just pizza and calzones with the option of a few toppings for 3$ each. My girlfriend and I split a pizza with basil and garlic and a bottle of prosecco. The crust is really light, flaky, crispy, yet also chewy; not at all weighed down by the sauce, or cheese.

The total bill was 43$. Really a deal when you consider the fact that we had a whole bottle of prosecco. I have little to complain about with Giuseppina's, if you're in the neighborhood (perhaps after a visit to Greenwood), it's definitely worth your time.

I was there last night. The pizza is almost indistinguishable from Lucali (a good thing in my book). No wait for a table for 4 at 7pm on Sunday. I don't think that we'd be have been able to get a table at Lucali at that hour, or at least not without a really long wait.

This place is owned by Chris Iacono, brother of Lucali owner Mark Iacono.. And essentially, it's the same restaurant, with the exception of the fact that they do use some electric lights, though very dim and they serve wine and beer..The room is almost candle lit, the walls are exposed brick.. The mood is romantic, the music was in keeping with the room.. Nina Simone, Tonny Bennet, Dean Martin, were just some of the music being played at a very nice level..

The menu is the same as Lucali's.. They offer pizza and calzone with a limited choice of toppings.. Shallots, onions, pepperoni, artichoke hearts, mushroom, basil, and garlic were the things I remembered.

We ordered a 25 dollar bottle of Nero D'avola.. It was a perfect house light red and went well with everything.. The calzone was the same as Lucali.. Filled with low moisture mozzarella, a beautiful fresh ricotta, and we opted for artichokes... Side of sauce was 2 bucks..

Out came the pie.. We ordered the pie with fresh basil.. It came piled on.. The pizza was cooked perfectly.. Not burnt but, a perfect little char.. Lots of cheese, some parm. Just as Lucali...

The best thing about this place, it was not packed... There was no wait.. We walked right in, our waitress was definitely old school Brooklyn and very friendly..

It's an interesting spot as it's almost directly across the street from Toby's.. Toby's is a place that has a wood burning oven that has wonderful pies as well.. However, Toby's is also a bar and has other things besides pizza.. I had to use the ATM at Toby's and was happy to see that this place is packed.. Rightfully so..

So the verdict is, the pies are as good as Lucali, however, there is no line but, you can't bring your own wine...

It did make me realize it's been too long since I have been to Toby's..